U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns will rule “in two to three days” on James “Whitey” Bulger’s trial continuance request

Boston Herald on November 1, 2012 released the following:

“Judge makes no decision on Bulger trial delay

By Laurel J. Sweet

The federal judge who’ll preside over the murder trial of accused gangland serial killer James “Whitey” Bulger will announce “in two to three days” whether he’ll grant the defense team’s latest bid to postpone the March spectacle to November 2013.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns took the request under advisement this afternoon following a 15-minute hearing that marked his first appearance in the case since Bulger’s lead public defender J.W. Carney Jr. twice demanded he recuse himself because of his prior service as a federal prosecutor. Stearns has twice refused to step aside.

Carney has also threatened to put Stearns on the witness stand next to the very bench he’ll issue orders from. Carney told Stearns today he has no plans at this time to try and get the case dismissed based on Bulger’s claim that the late U.S. Attorney Jeremiah O’Sullivan gifted him a license to kill and immunity from prosecution for more than a quarter century.

Despite an overflow courtroom no doubt hoping for a shouting match between the two men, they kept their conversation civil.

“I’m very impressed with the attendance,” Stearns quipped.

Carney renewed his contention that he and co-counsel Hank Brennan are overwhelmed by more than 364,000 documents they need to read, take notes from and review with Bulger, 83, in addition to Department of Justice reports they still need to comb through, books about Bulger’s reign of terror they need to read and witnesses they need to interview — all to adequately defend a mobster Carney said “has been demonized for decades.”

The former South Boston crimelord, who was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in June 2011 after 16 years on the lam as the FBI’s Most Wanted domestic terrorist, is charged with the murders of 19 men and women — two of them former girlfriends of his partner in crime Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi.

“We have been working days, nights, weekends and I say sincerely we cannot possibly digest this discovery in time to be prepared for trial,” Carney said. “It is unprecedented in my experience trying hundreds of cases.

“A fair trial before a fair judge does not begin with empanelment of a jury,” he said, “it begins with the defense counsel being allowed to be prepared to try the case.”

“The government is always in favor of a fair trial,” he said. “What we’re not in favor of is delaying trials unnecessarily. This is a cross-examination case for him. This is basically murder and mayhem by our witnesses and his client. He (Carney) wants to litigate things, not resolve them.””

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.